Issued in the official gazette, the agreement solidifies cooperation between the two countries in combating all categories of crime, including human trafficking, drugs and weapons smuggling, and money laundering, Ahram added.

The agreement was signed between Egyptian Minister of Interior Magdy Abdel Ghafar and his German counterpart, Thomas de Maiziére, in Berlin in July 2016. It was ratified by the Egyptian parliament in February 2017, and Germany’s Reichstag gave its final approval on April 27.

The Egypt-Germany security agreement specifies 22 fields in which Egyptian and German authorities should cooperate in investigations, share information about suspects, and carry out joint operations.

Egypt and Germany discussed boosting counterterrorism collaboration on several occasions. Early in 2017, Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry held talks with Maiziére on means to boost bilateral cooperation in fighting terrorism.